Fleetwood Hall, who was perfectly and confidently handled by Ed Hysell, stepped up the ladder to the top class and promptly disposed of his six worthy foes in a lifetime best 1:54.3 in the $13,000 Open I Trot on Tuesday night (April 30) at Pompano Park.
Trained by Miriam Toland, the nine-year-old gelded son of Deweycheatumnhowe was near the back of the pack early before starting to gnaw away with a lap to go. From that point, he swept widest of all when straightened away and used a :28.4 finale to score by three lengths over the pacesetting Beer Dad (driven by Dave Ingraham).
William Star, with Wally Hennessey in his sulky, finished third, almost seven lengths away, while Joey Pro and Thundercrest picked up the final two awards in the classy septet.
“Miriam (trainer Toland) takes such tender loving care of Fleetwood (Hall) and it sure shows when he's on the racetrack,” Hysell said after the race. “She jogs him and then, just about every day, gives him the pleasure of going on the ‘aquaciser’ treadmill and, yes, he's nine, but racing like a young three-year-old. What a job she's done!
"She has him in such great shape – and I have so much confidence in him – that I told her before the race, 'If I'm within three lengths of them turning for home, I'll have you in the winner's circle!"
Fleetwood Hall now has a 4-3-0-0 scorecard this season, good for earnings of $16,600. Lifetime, the gelding has 29 wins and $138,818 in bounty.
Off as the third choice in the betting, Fleetwood Hall paid $14.40 to win.
By the way, in terms of ‘batting average’ among trainers with 10 or more starts, Toland, with her one-horse stable, is the leader with a UTR of a lofty .667.
Racing continues of Saturday night with a blockbuster 13 race program, highlighted by three carryovers with mandatory payoffs on the Pick-6, Pick-4 and Super Hi-5.
The Pick-6 carryover has a carryover of $3,153.58, The Pick-4 is worth $13,219.37 going in to Saturday's finale and the Super Hi-5 carryover is a lofty $127,976.45 with that pool expected to peak at well over $200,000.
Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(With files from Pompano Park)